Yep, It is Officially BLT Season



maybe I watched too much Parks and Recreation this weekend!

BLT's are one of my favorite Summer comfort foods.

The Farmer's Markets in Omaha are amazing. I recently found quite literally the most perfect tomatoes I've ever had in my life there about three weeks ago.


The amazing produce coupled with the surplus of bread I now have on hand due to the Artisan Bread class I'm taking will likely lead to a weekly BLT.

Oh, and of course, I added Sriracha to my list of mandatory BLT ingredients! Yum!

Ingredients:

Bread of Your Choice
Amazing Lettuce
Perfect Tomatoes
Bacon (Nitrate Free, if possible)
Sriracha
Mayo (Sadly, my Dukes didn't make it past TSA)
Salt
Pepper
If you like super crispy bacon like I do here's my one tip: bake it!

Put an entire package of bacon on two sheet trays lined with parchment or foil.

Put the bacon trays in a cold oven and turn on to 400 degrees.

Walk away, for about 14 minutes (or however long it takes your oven to preheat.

At that point, check the bacon. You may need to rotate the pans on drain some of the grease.

With my oven, 14 minutes gets the bacon almost done and at most it take about 8 more minutes to finished cooking.

Bacon in the oven ="s a high volume of hand's free bacon prep without the grease burns from the stove.

Involtini di Melanzane

Involtini di Melanzane = Baked Eggplant Rolls

A quick search showed me that there are umpteen variations of this dish: appetizer, side, main, stuffed with cheese, meat, other veggies, and really any combination thereof. However, perhaps the most traditional version is to stuff the eggplant rolls with some type of cheese and top with a marinara sauce.

When I came across this recipe, I was looking for a new way to serve my meat loving fiance eggplant as a main dish.

I LOVE fried eggplant but was looking for a healthier option and a way to include more fresh veggies.

I was also looking for a recipe that would let me show off my savory cooking skills after laboring over cakes, breads, pastries, custards, and all things sweet for the last two months.

Here's what I came up with:

Baked Eggplant Rolls with Spaghetti Squash, Fresh Mozzarella, and Pesto

Ingredients

1 small/medium eggplant
1 spaghetti squash
1 bunch of fresh basil
grated Parmesan
walnuts
fresh basil
garlic
salt
pepper
evoo


To create this dish, slice the eggplant lengthwise (not in rounds). Then, salt and let drain.


Cut the spaghetti squash in half and bake face down on a foil lined sheet pan at 375 for about 25 minutes or until a paring knife easily pierces the skin.


While the squash is cooling, rinse, dry and then grill the eggplant after lightly brushing it with olive oil. Place on towel to drain and season with salt and pepper.


Then, make some pesto. I used a food processor. I used an entire bunch of basil, 3 cloves of fresh garlic, 1/2 cup of walnuts, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan, and then drizzled with olive oil until the right consistency was reached. I do adjust the Parmesan and walnuts as needed depending on the amount of basil.

Once squash is cool, use a spoon to remove the seeds. Then scrape with a fork the get those
spaghetti-like strands. Place in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Parmesan.


Lay a rectangle of mozzarella topped with 1/2 T of pesto on top of one piece of grilled eggplant.

Then, add a bundle of the spaghetti squash. Roll the eggplant up and place seam side down on a foil lined sheet tray.

Wrap with a slice of eggplant and place seam side down on another foil lined sheet tray.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes to melt the cheese.

To serve, I topped the eggplant bundles with avocado but they are great without or you could add some more pesto if you love it as much as I do.

Yay, eggplant fun!